NBA owner gets half-million dollar fine for one tweet

With a month worth of NBA games already cancelled because of the lockout, dozens of players have been taking to Twitter to air their frustration and sadness without fine or punishment. Others, like Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant, used the microblogging platform to find a game of flag football.

One NBA team owner, on the other hand, is facing an enormous fine for his criticism of the league on Twitter.

In an interview with the New York Times, Stern made no apologizes for the heavy fine against Arison, who is worth $4.2 billion, according to the LA Times.

“It was more about his timing," Stern told the New York Times. "We're trying very hard to get a deal done with the players, or we were, and we don't need any external distractions to that focus."

The fine, however, illustrates the different standards that owners are held to in the league. NBA Players Assn. President Derek Fisher, by contrast, continues to effectively use Twitter to leverage support for the players. His hashtag, #standunited, has become a motto of sorts in the negotiations.

“LET US PLAY #StandUnited” Fisher tweeted on Oct. 10, a message than was retweeted more than 100 times.

Such Twitter-related fines are common in the NBA, however. Outspoken Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban got a $25,000 bill in 2009 for tweets critical of league officiating, according to U.S. News.